If the Shoe Fits
by My Vantilene
Summary: Aqua's life is pretty close to a Cinderella story...while at the same time being as far from it as you can get. In this deviated classic, she's invited to the ball as a catering maid, her step sisters and mother are beyond beautiful, her best friend is a cursed thief, and while a fairy godmother may make an appearance, it's certainly not for her.


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the conspiracy theory that Aqua's full name is Aquamarine.

Chapter I: Acquaintances

Ventus felt it before he heard it. Footsteps. Large ones, at that, rattling the ground that gravity had clamped him to. He could still feel bits and pieces of the dream collecting themselves as he tried to nod off to sleep again. Of course, he couldn't deny the peculiar vibrations, but he also couldn't deny the distinct unwillingness to be awake at such an hour, either. The words of the old witch echoed in his skull, trying to steal away his consciousness.

"Thief!" she had shrieked in that wickedly shrill voice of hers, "You cold-hearted, good-for-nothing, scum! I'll teach you a lesson!" There was a light show of warm hues, pink, orange, yellow, all swirling in around him.

"What's going on? What are you doing?" he had asked.

"It's a curse. It seeks out your worst fear, worst insecurity, and exploits it. That is the price you pay for larceny…"

"Isn't this the part where you tell me only true love can break the spell?" he rolled his eyes, seeing how the puffs of vivid color had done nothing to hurt him.

"Oh, you prideful dirt, you! You don't realize what you've brought upon yourself. Love would have broken it, but for you? You shall not be exempted from your punishment in the slightest! You're suffering will not be lax!"

Another jolt and he was sent upright. He was definitely awake now, noticing he was not in his "bed." (if you could call it that) Instead cool metal brushed his skin. He stuck out a hand to support his back and stood up. Looking around, he gasped. Maybe those harmless colors had done something to him. Maybe he wasn't as untouchable as he led himself to believe. He could make out a couch and a tall dresser, and using his (amazing) recon skills, discovered he was in some sort of holding cell. And that he had somehow lost a couple feet overnight. And that's when he saw the cause of the footsteps, a girl's black shoes.

* * *

Aqua had finished the rounds of the house and was coming back to the parlor room to retrieve a book she had misplaced there, knowing full and well that if it wasn't picked up before Lady Henrietta awoke and found that her stepdaughter had been "careless again," she'd have to work overtime, like she wasn't doing that already. When she saw the metallic object in the middle of the room she was so startled that she may have actually been careless again. She picked up the strange object and peered inside.

"Oh my!" she whispered faintly as she set the cage down. She got down on the floor and looked inside one more time, knowing that she'd have less of a chance of dropping it if it was safely out of her clumsy hands. With a single nail she broke the latch off and the hatch opened. The figure made its way out of the cell.

"Hello!" she greeted warmly.

"Hi…" he slowly replied, eying her dubiously.

"How did you get in there?"

"I…I don't know."

"Well, I must say, I've never seen a mouse like you before."

"I'm not a mouse."

"Do you have a place to stay?" she seemingly ignored the comment.

"I'm good. I just – hang out on the streets." He turned to go.

"A street mouse?"

"I'm not a mouse!" he yelled indignantly, whipping back around to face her.

She laughed, "I know. I'm not as dumb as I look. You really should've seen your face, though, getting all defensive like that."

He just stared at her, his eyes like an iron fist.

"So, do you have a place to stay?" before he could answer, she added, "And the streets don't count."

"Ugh…" he looked to the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets and mumbled "No…"

"What did you say? I couldn't quite hear you." She said with the upmost concern, clarifying she really hadn't heard the answer that had a growling undercurrent.

"No. Not really…" he said louder, eyes fixed on the blue carpet. She placed a hand, palm-side up, next to him.

"What's that for?" he retorted, pointing to it as if it was the most grotesque thing he'd ever laid eyes on.

"I'm lending you a hand. Take it or leave it."

"But I don't even know your name."

"Aquamarine. But you can call me Aqua."

He just stared at her.

"And your name would be…?"

"Ventus…but you can call me Ven." Hesitantly, he stepped onto her dainty hands that had calluses and blisters decorating them from scrubbing all of the pots and pans in the household. Once he was safely on, she lifted up her hand and began to walk upstairs, toward the attic that served as her residence. She put her hand down on the wooden table that was the only unnecessary piece of furniture besides the bedside table. He got off of her hands and stepped out onto the table.

"What is this?" he gesticulated to the run-down room.

"It's where I live," she pursed her lips, "You don't think it's ugly, do you?"

"No, no," he assured her, "it's really pretty."

"Ha," she laughed, "I'm not as dumb as I look. This place is a rat-whole."

"It's better than my place." He admitted.

"Well," she looked at him with a different expression, not all rainbows and sunshine, but a sort of compassion, "you can stay here as long as you like. I have more than enough food and I can always make a bed out of some cloth and straw. It's more comfortable than you'd think."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." He added, "And, you know, I'm not originally this height. It's just–" he paused. He couldn't exactly tell her that he stole things for a living, and his occupation got him in trouble with some wrinkly old hag, "I…had a spell book and it, uh, I, kind of, and, um–"

"It's okay, I get it. A sort of spell?" _More like a curse_, he mused.

"Yeah, exactly like that. Except I lost the book and I don't know how to reverse it."

"Then how'd you end up in that cage?"

"Mouse trap?"  
"Thought you said you weren't a mouse."

He stiffened.

"Oh, don't be so tense. I'm only joking." She waved her hand flippantly, "Anyway, I don't have a bed made right now, I think I'll do that tomorrow, but here." She took the pillow off of the bed and laid it on the table.

"You can sleep on this for tonight. Just until I can make a better one."

He climbed up the pillow and smugly curled up inside.

"Thank you…" he murmured as the end of his voice was carried away, off into sleep.

"Goodnight." She whispered as she got into her own bed and drifted off to sleep as well.

* * *

It was only for the harsh rays of the sun that filtered in through the small window and greeted his eyes with a hostile burn that Ventus bothered to wake up. Because now, he had to deal with his problem. A scowl fastened tightly around his mouth and he got up from the pillow and slid off of it. He stared in confusion at the sight in front of him. It was a crumb of bread and a miniscule wedge of cheese. He ate it in moderation, knowing that after he was done here, and with that girl and her "hospitality" he had a long journey ahead of himself to try and fix whatever that witch had done. The words scraped the back of his head.

**_"You shall not be exempted from your punishment in the slightest! You're suffering will not be lax!"_**

He shuddered. He wouldn't be surprised if those very words were spoken at his birth for how true they reigned.

A sudden knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Aqua?"

He hid underneath the pillow.

"Aqua, dearest, are you in there?"

When she wasn't given an answer, she broke down the door. Ventus peeked out to see who it was that made the lofty and sturdy door look like a mere, diminutive splinter in her way. It was a beautiful woman with hair black as ebony, lips red as roses, and skin white as snow, like the mirror had prophesied were the traits of the fairest of them all. But this woman was definitely too old to be Snow White, but far too young-looking to be the evil queen that harbored the precognitive looking-glass.

She searched the room, turning over what few things were there. She smacked the pillow to the side and Ventus along with it. She was in too much of a haste to notice him, though. He had landed underneath the bed.

"AQUA!" she shouted.

"Down here, Mother Dearest."

The infuriated expression evaporated and left her features looking even more intoxicating than before, if that was even possible.

So this was Aqua's mom? He realized that he probably hadn't taken a good enough look at Aqua last night, because if that was Aqua's mom, the girl must have been a perfect ten.

He got up from the floor and decided to take a look around. He found a hole in the corner of the room. Curiosity and boredom weighing in, he decided to climb up it.

There were some unusual things in the rat-labyrinth. A fork, a sponge, a creepy blue blur with red eyes that moved with panther-agility? What was all of this stuff? Finally, by using the atypical objects, he made his way to the opening of another rat-hole and peeked out of it.

It was a girl, with the same vibrant emerald eyes as her mother, but instead of a black, straight bob, she had long, flowing, blonde locks. She was yelling.

"Can't you do anything right, Aquamarine?" she inquired, her eyebrows growing closer together, subtracting a little from her natural beauty, "I swear!" she waved her hand across her upward-slanted nose, "And what is that smell? Ugh! Why do you always smell like smoke? Working with the cinders again last night? Maybe we should call you Cinderine instead." He angled his head to see more of the scene. Aqua was crumpled on the floor, only her cerulean hair could be seen about her face, but her chest was elevating and her figure was shaking in sobs.

And then she slapped her.

Aqua didn't seem surprised in the slightest, but the tears still ran down her cheek and dripped off her chin.

"I swear! Sometimes you just don't know how to mind your manners! You don't cry in front of me! You have no reason to cry, I have not wronged you. It is you who has wronged me. I told you specifically that I wanted chocolate covered cherries, not chocolate with a cherry filling! You know, you're almost as dumb as you look." Then she kicked Aqua, and told her, like a dog, "Now scurry off, I'm sure Massie has something for you to do as well." She didn't respond, so she kicked her again. And Aqua bolted out of there, but the tears could be seen and stained the carpet like blood and stayed after it evaporated almost like a ghost, reminding him what had just happened.

* * *

It was midnight and Aqua was completely done with her duties for the day. She ran into the attic and used a key to lock the door - or whatever was left over from the door after her stepmother had gotten to it - behind her. Ventus was sitting on the bedside table.

"Hello!" he greeted warmly.

"Hi…" she replied slowly, sitting down on the bed, "Hope it wasn't too boring up here."

"No, it was fine. Hope it wasn't too boring out there."

"Ha," she laughed, "this house is a lot of things, but boring is not one of them."

Ventus was surprised that this was the same girl he saw being kicked around by her stepsister. Of course, he didn't expect her to be sobbing all the time, but she could at least have a small frown instead of the vivid smile that was on her face.

And now that he did look at her face, he had come to the conclusion they were stepsisters, for she had not inherited any of the mother or sister's traits. Aqua had azure eyes, thin lips, a normal nose, average-size cheekbones, and was overall a little plain-looking. If it wasn't for her eyes, he would've supposed completely plain-looking.

"So, uh, your mother seems nice."

"Not my mother." she corrected, closing her eyes in discomfort, "And she sure isn't a woman you want to cross. If you want to hang around her, you better have a submissive personality."

"Do you?"

It was brusque and probably not very considerate, but it had come out of his mouth, nonetheless. She stared at him before replying,

"It may not be my personality, but it's how I act." Her gaze suddenly flitted to the open window and stayed there a long while in a sort of trance.

"Aqua?"

No answer.

"Aqua…?"

"Oh," she turned back towards him, "Sorry about that." She blushed then looked away, "I guess I'm a little bit a dreamer."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"There's a ball in a couple of weeks at the palace. It's my dream to go, but…but I wasn't invited."

"What?" he looked flabbergasted

"Well, er– I was invited, but as a maid to help cater." She sat down on the bed with a sigh, "I'd give anything to go to the ball as a guest."

Ventus's mind was suddenly filled with the memories of the last ball he'd gone to. Of course, he, too, wasn't invited as a guest, or really as anything for the matter. But he had made his way in, and made his way off. With several desirable items.

"Well, what if you were to go…undercover, sort of?"

"What do you mean?"

"You rent a nice dress, do your hair differently, borrow some makeup, no one would recognize you."

"And the invite as a maid?"

"You tell them you have prior arrangements. Trick your stepsisters to get you to hold down the fort while they're gone."

"Where am I going to get a dress?"

"Borrow it from your stepsisters."

"They'll definitely notice."

"Hmm…"

"Well, don't hurt yourself thinking of ways to get a dress because that dream of mine was dead ages ago…Well, anyways, goodnight, Ven."

"Goodnight, Aqua."

* * *

_AN:  
_

_Yet another story from two years ago I found in my document folder. I have a pretty cool ending for this one. If it gets enough reviews, it'll update.  
_


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